Exploring The Best of the Left Podcast

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Air date: 
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:00am
Ross Freeman Levin Interviews Jay Tomlinson, producer of The Best of the Left Podcast

KBOO Digital Divide: Interview with Jay Tomlinson, creator of Best of the Left Podcast | by Ross Freeman Levin

reporter Ross Freeman Levin thinks he spends too much time trolling podcasts for interesting audio content. But that seemingly-wasted time may be paying off: he's found creative inspiration in one show, The Best of the Left Podcast. Ross interviewed Jay Tomlinson, the show's producer, and picked his brain for tasty tidbits about making a living as a progressive podcaster.


Best of the Left Script for Digital Divide:
find links for content in this segment following this script

(audio from bestoftheleft.com intro)

That’s the voice of Jay Tomlinson, producer of The Best of the Left Podcast.

He works from his home in Chicago or on the road, distributing his show through the internet to listeners around the world.

Jay takes a broad spectrum of progressive media and paints ideas as soundscapes through the voices of others.

He is a story teller, media aggregator and curator of ideas.

If you listen to his show you’ll hear commentary, debate, comedy, thought pieces, and music related to the show’s topic.

Jay posts a new program every three days on a different topic ranging from labor rights to marriage equality and everything in-between.

I use an application on my mobile phone to download The Best of the Left automatically whenever there’s a new episode.

And I listen to the show whenever I have time to wrap my mind around big ideas.

Although he doesn’t typically editorialize, Jay asks the listener to actively engage his audio collage.

Listeners give their feedback on his show through various social media channels or by leaving voice mail to be played on the show.

Here are a few clips from the most recent The Best of the Left podcast entitled ‘Dumb as the Fossils we Burn’:

(audio clips from podcast)

Jay has found a niche where his listeners support him not only with comments and suggestions but also with their dollars.

I wanted to know more about Jay’s creative process and what it takes to produce a successful multimedia podcast.

So I interviewed Jay Tomlinson to give you a glimpse of what it can be like to work as a curator of ideas online and make a living doing it.

(interview audio)

Today’s digital media has expanded our sphere of knowledge and transformed our story telling.

Our relationships to each other and our society have evolved simultaneously with our communication technology.

A confluence of curious people, mobile media devices and the world wide web has shattered many boundaries between distant individuals and the stories of their lives.

It’s exciting for me to engage listeners in this new media frontier and share some of my story with you through this show.

So there you have it, a heavily distilled, shaken but not stirred, lightly vaporized version of my interview with Jay Tomlinson, creator of the Best of the Left Podcast.

Go to Jay’s website at Best of the Left dot com to learn more about what he’s doing lately.

Or visit KBOO.fm slash Digital Divide to see links for the topics discussed in this segment.

We all have a story to tell. With a little creativity, experimentation and some concerted effort any one out there can join in the fun.

A good way to start is by volunteering at KBOO.

It’s your listener powered radio station, where you too can learn to produce the stories you want to tell and get them out into the mediasphere.

I’m Ross Freeman Levin for the Digital Divide.

Let’s keep our airwaves radical!
 


Links for the show segment:
www.bestoftheleftpodcast.com | Best of the Left website
https://www.facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft | Jay’s Facebook page
http://twitter.com/#!/BestOfTheLeft | Best of the Left on Twitter social networking site
http://donateyouraccount.com/ | donate your Twitter account to a campaign you support
audacity | free, open source tool for editing audio
garage band | audio editor for Mac OS
wordpress | one of the many resources for publishing your work or blog on the web
getglue | personalized pop culture media tracker
https://www.stitcher.com/home.php | your source for portable and personalized news and talk internet radio
http://bre.ad/ | the best way to share your idea

Best of the Left Description (from https://www.facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft)
Aggregating and amplifying the absolute best of the truly liberal media

most recent show posting:
Subscribe to this show!
Check out Stitcher Smart Radio and use the promo code “BEST”
Visit www.Stitcher.com/BEST
Act 1: Rocks – Mark Fiore
Song 1: Welcome Home (Sanitarium) [Instrumental Version] – Plays Metallica By Four Cellos
Act 2: Fracking linked to well contamination – Green News Report
Act 3: Watch It, Gas Hole – Thom Hartmann
Song 3: Home – Up From Below (Deluxe Edition)
Act 4: Nuclear and the climate – Le Show
Song 4: As Long As the Grass Grows – Round Dance the Night Away
Act 5: Island’s Recovery May Set Example For Gulf Residents – NPR
Song 5: Dudeman – Viktor Krauss II
Act 6: Exxon Paleontologists Call For Increased U.S. Fossil Production – The Onion
Song 6: La Paix – Dimanche a Bamako
Act 7: 2011 sets weird weather record – Green News Report
Song 7: Knock Yourself Out – I Heart Huckabees (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Act 8: Mark Moffett – Colbert Report
Song 8: Mexico – James Taylor: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
Act 9: Safe, clean, too cheap to meter – Le Show
Song 9: Go Sadness – Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
Act 10: More weird weather, new records set – Green News Report
Voicemails:
Thoughts on the future of climate change – Dominic from Castle Rock, Colorado
Responding on federal funding of Planned Parenthood – Patrick from Dallas
Details on government reimbursments for non-profits – Shane from Cleveland, OH
Voicemail Music:
Turtle (Bonobo Mix) – One Offs… Remixes & B Sides
Ghostwriter – Deadringer
Final comments on Stitcher.com and DonateYourAccount.com
Bonus Voicemail:
Deeper understanding reaction to Bin Laden – Andrew from NY
Bonus iPhone/iPod Touch App Content:
How green is my country? – Need to Know
Find source links for this episode after the break!

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